ACT NOW - Support Raw Milk in Maine - Attend Hearing & Contact Legislators!

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Support Raw Milk in Maine with LD 229 & LD 312

Attend Hearing Mar. 12 & Contact Legislators

Two raw milk bills are up for consideration in the Maine legislature. LD 229 and LD 312 would both allow for the unlicensed direct farm-to-consumer sale of raw milk and raw milk products in Maine.

Please help restore unlicensed, unregulated on-farm sales of raw dairy in Maine. Attend the hearing and contact committee members!

For more information, see below.

Please pass this alert on and ask others to do the same.

Action #1 - Attend the Committee Hearing on March 12

In the aerial map above, the Cross Building has the yellow tag

WHEN: 1:00 p.m. Thursday, March 12

WHERE:

Cross Building, Room 214

111 Sewell
Augusta, ME 04330 [directions]

WHAT: Hearing before the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

WHY: Having people in the room makes an impact on the legislators!

See More Information below to better understand the issues.

Action #2 - Contact Committee Members

Whether or not you can come in person, please contact all of the members of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to urge them to restore direct farm-to-consumer sales of raw milk and raw milk products without licensing and inspection requirements.

See below for Talking Points. See contact info below.

Action #3 - Contact Your Legislators

If you are able, please contact your legislators and politely urge them to restore direct farm-to-consumer sales of raw milk and raw milk products without licensing and inspection requirements.

Don't know who represents you? Find out here.

More Information

It is legal to sell raw milk at farmers' markets and retail outlets under state licensing and inspection. Before 2009, it was also legal to sell raw milk directly from a farm with no licensing or inspection so long as the farm didn't advertise. This policy changed in 2009 when Dairy Inspection Services moved from the Animal Health Division of the Department of Agriculture to the Quality Assurance and Regulation division. The policy change happened within the agency and did not undergo a process of legislative oversight or public input. In every legislative session since then, there have been bills proposed to correct this and restore legitimacy in state law to on-farm sales of raw milk and/or milk products.

LD 229 would exempt from licensing "a milk distributor who daily produces for sale less than 20 gallons of raw milk or daily processes less than 20 gallons of raw milk into cheese aged at least 60 days, yogurt, cream, butter or kefir or other dairy product." Labeling and signage would be required; but sales can be at the farm, a farmstand or farmers market in Maine.

LD 312 would exempt on-farm sales of raw dairy products from state licensing and inspection requirements if the sales are made directly to an "end consumer" and if the consumer is allowed to visually inspect the farm, the farm does not advertise in any way, the farmer completes a course in dairy sanitation every three years and displays the course certificate at the point of sale. The farmer must also post at the point of sale the results of a water test.

Talking Points

The Maine Department of Agriculture allowed the unlicensed on-farm sales of raw milk for about 30 years before ending that practice in 2009. This bill would be codifying something that worked well for many years in the state.
Maine's neighbor, New Hampshire, has allowed the unlicensed sale of raw dairy products for almost three years, and there haven't been any problems since their law went into effect.
These laws would help boost the rural economy.
These laws would give consumers more freedom of choice.

Joint Committee of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry

To send an email to all legislators in the entire Joint Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee at one time, please copy this list and paste it into the "To" field of your email:

[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Individual Contact Info:

Senator Peter Edgecomb, Chair

207-496-3188

[email protected]

Senator James Dill

207-827-3498

[email protected]

Senator Thomas Saviello

207-645-3420

[email protected]

Representative Craig Hickman, Chair

No number listed - Call Message Line at (800) 423-2900

[email protected]

Representative Russell Black

207-645-2990

[email protected]

Representative Ralph Chapman

207-326-0899

[email protected]

Representative Michelle Dunphy

No number listed - Call Message Line at (800) 423-2900

[email protected]

Representative Anthony Edgecomb

No number listed - Call Message Line at (800) 423-2900

[email protected]

Representative MaryAnne Kinney

No number listed - Call Message Line at (800) 423-2900

[email protected]

Representative Donald Marean

207-727-5527

[email protected]

Representative Carol McElwee

No number listed - Call Message Line at (800) 423-2900

[email protected]

Representative William Noon

No number listed - Call Message Line at (800) 423-2900

[email protected]

Representative Robert Saucier

No number listed - Call Message Line at (800) 423-2900

[email protected]

Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit [EIN 20-8605130], defends the rights and broadens the freedoms of family farms and artisan food producers while protecting consumer access to raw milk and nutrient-dense foods. Learn more About Us or read the FTCLDF 2013 Summary.

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Donations to the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund are always appreciated though not tax-deductible. Prefer to make a tax-deductible donation? Contact us by email at [email protected] or call 703-208-FARM (3276).

Please forward this alert to others who are concerned about protecting locally-sourced nutrient-dense foods and preserving sustainable small family farms and artisan food producers as well as defending the rights to sell and to access the foods of one's choice from the source of one's choice.

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